Solar energy has been a desirable energy source for over thirty years. However, cost has always been an obstacle to its widespread use. The most familiar solar energy systems comprise an array of solar cells that cover enough area, or intercepts enough incident sunlight. to yield the desired amount of electrical power at relatively low conversion efficiencies of ten to fifteen percent (10%-15%). This approach requires large areas of expensive semi-conductor solar cells. To date, these systems have been uncompetitive without cost subsidies of some sort. In general, the prohibitive cost of solar energy systems has been primary due to the cost and the quantities required of the semi-conductor conversion devices called solar cells. There have been several approaches to alleviating the cost issue. One approach is to fabricate thin-film solar cells that use only a minimal amount of semi-conductor material. Unfortunately, this approach generates still lower efficiencies, six to eight percent (6%-8%) and the materials have proven to be problematic. A second approach has been used various optical devices such as fresnel lenses or mirrors to concentrate the solar energy to higher intensity and then convert it using a smaller area of the expensive solar cells. All of these approaches have been, and are still being pursued. None to date have resulted in economical solar energy generation without some sort of financial incentives being offered by the utilities or by government agencies. There is a need for a more economical way of collecting solar energy and converting it into electrical and/or thermal energy.